Parallel
by Topaz Fox
Summary: A Sora you have never known is out shopping for his new apartment. Instead of paint and light bulbs, he finds memories of a life that never was...or was it?


(Hi there! Topaz speaking. This story is a little odd. I actually got the idea for it looking through paint chips...strange that one would connect paint chips with Kingdom Hearts. -Topaz Fox)

(Also,I guess I should start including these...)

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Kingdom Hearts,any of its characters, or anything else like that.

Sora ambled carelessly through the home improvement store, wandering through isle after isle. Every few minutes, he would see something for his new apartment and toss it into his shopping cart. "Boring," he sighed. _I moved out because I wanted excitement, and here I am shopping for the apartment. Where are the thrills in my life? Nineteen years old and I'm browsing through damn light bulbs and paint._

_Paint… _The apartment Sora had just moved into was currently a sickly shade of beige. It could definitely use a new color. Sora slowly pushed his cart to the paint isle.

There on the wall hung a thousand different paint chips, stacked and arranged like some technology-age mosaic. There were sky blues and bloody reds and soft snowy whites and summer yellows and dazzling greens that a peacock would envy. Sora scanned the towering display, searching for just the perfect color.

His eyes fell on a vibrant shade of orange, so bright it seemed almost neon. On a whim, Sora removed it from the wall to have a better look. He smiled to himself. _This is the sort of color that would drive people crazy._ It was so ripe, so loud and absurd, and yet…so lovely. Sora glanced at the name of the color: _Island Sunset Orange._

_Island sunset. _Something stirred in the back of Sora's mind, or maybe his heart…he couldn't tell. There was something there, persistent as a song, trying to be noticed. Perhaps a past life or a memory that was of another age…_Island sunset._

The thought fluttered and lit up briefly. Suddenly, Sora saw it clearly. It bloomed furiously, plain as day. He was there, a much younger him, sitting on something rough. _A palm tree? _Beside him on the low-sweeping tree sat a girl, young, but looked like she would grow up soon. She was pretty; crimson hair, fine-featured, with striking amethyst eyes. Something clenched inside of Sora. What was her name…?

The two of them were gazing over citrus-colored waters to a sunset. The young Sora looked at the girl next to him. She looked back and smiled. Both of them were silent, but there was so much said in that moment…

The scene vanished. Another one illuminated, showing now a vast sea of darkness. Suddenly, a light stabbed the dark, causing it to recede. The blinding light faded to show the young Sora…fighting?

Yes, he was fighting. Fighting armies of shadow-creatures, two unidentifiable comrades at his side. There were so many of the shadow-creatures, in so many shapes and sizes and colors. A fierce battle ensued, finally melting away to…

Young Sora stood alone in what looked like an ornate room that had been smashed by some sort of machinery. No, wait…he wasn't alone. The two warriors from before, his comrades, were there, and also the red-haired girl, lying unconscious on the floor. _What is her name? Why can't I remember…? _Sora stood there, looking grim, and suddenly took a key-like weapon and plunged it into his heart.

Something seemed to click. The image dissipated, and after a darkness-filled pause, there again was a light. This time it surrounded young Sora and the girl. They were locked in an embrace, and theylooked so relieved and so just plain loving that they seemed…Sora couldn't quite define it. It was just…just a happiness that seemed like it would stop time.

The scene drifted away. Sora woke up—if he had even been asleep—at the home improvement store. He was still standing there, holding the paint chip. "Whoa," he said aloud. He rubbed the side of his head, feeling like he had just been thrown from a moving car. _What the hell was all that? And why did it seem so familiar?_

A little dazed, he looked at the paint chip in his hand. _Island Sunset Orange. _Why and how did he remember that island sunset? Sora was positive he had never been outside of the country, let alone some exotic island. In his memory—or whatever it was—he seemed fourteen or fifteen. He had been living in Detroit back then, of course. So why…?

After another quiet moment, Sora smiled. He put _Island Sunset Orange _back on the wall where it belonged, and selected a wallflower off-white for his apartment. He took one last look at the wall of paint chips and said under his breath, "I guess some things are better off unexplained. That's what Kairi would say." _Wait a minute. Who's…_

But Sora stopped himself. He knew perfectly well who Kairi was. Maybe she was here somewhere, in his life without him knowing it. He looked around as if he expected her to be right behind him, but of course there was nobody there. Sora smiled again. He felt…he felt like his eyes had been opened a little, and for some reason, he was ready to face the entire world just at that moment. Thanks to this unmemory, he had something to aspire to.

He was ready to take on life.

Fin


End file.
